Tow can apparatus



- Feb. 25, 1969 H. w. GOODNER 3,429,009

TOW CAN APPARATUS Filed Oct. 26, 1966 Sheet of 3 A INVENTOR. HOMER W.GOODNER.

AGENT Feb. 25, 1969 H. w. GOODNER 3,429,009

TOW CAN APPARATUS 'r'iled Oct. 26, 1966 Sheet 2 of 5 INVENTOR. HOMERW.GOODNER AGENT Feb. 25, 1969 go nN R 3,429,009

TOW CAN APPARATUS Filed Oqt. 26, 1966 Sheet of 3 art 94 SUPPLY 96CONTROL hum BOX F 9 i INVENTOR.

a2 88 a HOMER W.GOODNER BY Y AGENT United States Patent 4 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A can handling apparatus having a traversablecarriage controlled to clamp and reversibly shift cans onto and ofi adriven turntable in timed relation.

This invention relates to a novel tow can apparatus adapted toautomatically shift large containers called tow cans into and out of afilling position beneath a piddler device that jets heavy deniercontinuous tow into the cans in large quantities.

Different designs of tow can doffing and donning apparatus are used intow processing. Some are complicated in structure while other are notdesigned for heavy duty operation. The tow can apparatus describedherein evolved from an attempt to provide a relatively simple andreliable apparatus for automatically rolling or displacing an oversizedcontainer filled with thousands of pounds of tow away from and shiftingan empty tow can into a tow filling position, simultaneously.

It is an object of this invention to provide an automatic tow canapparatus. 7

Another object of the inventon is to provide a reciprocable tow canapparatus adapted to shift a plurality of rollaway cans, alternately, inopposite traversing direction to remove a packaged tow can from and toreplace an empty tow can onto a constantly rotating turntable.

The novel tow can apparatus, in brief, comprises a turntable meansadapted to be constantly rotated at a predetermined speed. A rollawaytow can is positioned on the turntable and another similar rollaway canis positioned alongside the other. The tow can on the turntable isclutched and centered by a clutch means while a reciprocable carriagemeans with beam members clamps both tow cans within the carriage injournaled relation. Eccentrically positioned over the can being filledis a piddler device for delivering tow thereto.

A control means operates on programmed sequence to unlock the clutchmeans from the tow can on the turntable when the latter has been filledwith a predetermined amount of tow such as polyester or the like; toshift the carriage means in one direction for rolling the packaged towcan off of the turntable and concurrently to roll a standby tow can intoa tow packaging position onto the turntable; to actuate the clutch meansto clutch and center the standby can in the packaging position on theturntable; to release the packaged tow can from a clamped positionwithin the carriage to allow the packaged can to be rolled away and anempty can placed within the carriage; and to clamp the replaced tow canwithin the carriage. The control system times the packaging of the towcans and operates to traverse the carriage, alternately, in oppositedirections.

A better understanding of the invention will be obtained by referring tothe accompanying drawings and to the more detailed description thatfollows.

3,429,009 Patented Feb. 25, 1969 In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the novel automatic tow can apparatus.

FIGURE 2 is :a cross-section taken through 22 of FIG. 1,

FIGURE 3 is a partial section of the turntable arrangement,

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the tow can clutching means showingthe clutch disengaged,

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the tow can clutching means showingthe clutch engaged, and

FIGURE 6 is a schematic view of the control system for the apparatus ofthe invention.

In the different figures, like components are designated by the samereference numerals.

Referring to the drawings, the novel tow can apparatus comprises areciprocable carriage 2 that has a main longitudinal beam 4 rollinglysupported to move left and right through rollers 6 mounted at spacedintervals along the longitudinal beam 4. Rollers 6 ride on fixed railsor tracks 8. Three spaced can clamping beams, a central beam 10extending perpendicularly from one side of the main beam 4 :and twooppositely disposed pivotal end beams or arms 12 and 14 act to clamp aplurality of tow cans within carriage 2.

Central beam 10, at opposite sides of the free end thereof, has concaveportions each with a radius complementary to circumferential towcontainers or cans and each concave portion rollably supports aplurality of bearings 16. Beams 12 and 14 are pivotally connected tobeam 4 and have adjustable end pieces or blocks 18 opposite the pivotedends thereof that are formed with a radius to match the curvature of twocans and which rollably support a plurality of bearings 16.

Pivotal beams 13 and 14 are spaced from the central beam 4 so that twotow can stations A and B are provided. A third station C is an emptyspace which is used when carriage 2 is traversed, as will be explainedin operation.

A pair of tow cans 20 and 22 are positioned within carriage 2 atstations A and B, respectively, and are rotatably claimed between beams10, 12, and 14. Tow cans 20 and 22 are approximately five feet indiameter and five feet in height and are open at the upper ends thereof.The tow cans are rollably supported on casters 24 and each tow can has acam clutch member 26 fixed axially to the bottom of the can.

Tow can 22 rests on a rotary turntable or platform 28 driven through amotor 30. Turntable 28 rolls on casters 31. The arrangement for drivingturntable 28 consists in a plate 32 having a plurality of pins 34 at atthe upper side thereof. Pins 34 fit into corresponding holes 36 formedin the center of turntable 28. A rotatable sleeve 38 is coaxially fixedat one end thereof to the bottom side of plate 32 and is journaled byconventional bearing means to rotate within :a framework 40.

To rotatably drive sleeve 38 and turntable 28, sleeve 38 has a pllley 42mounted thereon which is connected by a belt 44 to motor 30.

In order to center and to impart a rotating force to a tow can on theturntable 28, a reciprocable shaft 46 is slidably operable within sleeve38. A key 48 connects pulley 42, sleeve 38 and shaft 46 for commonrotation and an elongated keyway 50 formed on shaft 46 permits thelatter to be slidably reciprocated up and down within sleeve 38. Shaft46 has a crossbar 52 fixed thereto at its upper end forming a T bar. Bar52 fits into a groove 54 in plate 32 when shaft 46 is in its lowermostposition shown in FIG. 4, and extends upwardly through a slot 56 inturntable 28 into engagement wtih cam clutch member 26 when in anuppermost position (FIG. 5). Shaft 46 is actuated by means of anactuating rod 58 operable by and extending from an air cylinder 60. Thelower end of rod 58 is connected to a piston within air cylinder 60 andthe upper end extends axially through the center of a bearing 62retained in the lower end of shaft 46 and is connected to the bearing 62by a shoulder that abuts against the lower side of bearing 62 and aretainer ring on rod 58 at the upper side of bearing 62.

A control system 64 (FIG. 6) is provided to operate the tow canapparatus in predetermined sequence. Prior to operation, empty tow cans20 and 22 are rollingly clamped between beams 10, 12, and 14 with towcan 20 at station A and tow can 22 at station B. Can 22 is on turntable28 and is clutched by the crossbar 52 which is in engagement with camclutch 26 as shown in FIG. 5. Motor 30 is driving sleeve 38 which inturn is rotating turntable 28 in a clockwise direction (FIG. 1). Apiddler 66 is eccentrically positioned over can 22 and is rotating in acounterclock direction while delivering tow to can 22 so that a spiralpackage is formed in the can.

The control system 64 times the filling of a can to package the cansuniformly with the same amount of tow. When tow can 22 is filled to apredetermined amount, control system 64 sends a signal to a solenoidvalve 68, as a four-way valve, to control the delivery of air to aircylinder 60 for actuating rod 58 downwardly. Rod 58 carries shaft 46 andcrossbar 52 downwardly out of engagement from cam clutch 26 and intoslot 54. When shaft 46 reaches a lowermost position, it trips amicroswitch 70 that signals the control system 64 to send a signal to asolenoid valve 72 to deliver air to an air cylinder 74 fixed to a frame.Air cylinder 74- has an elongated actuating rod 76 that extendstherethrough and substantially the length of beam 4 and is connected atopposite ends thereof to a respective bracket 78 attached to beam 4. Aircylinder 74 is controlled to shift rod 76, alternately, rightwardly andleftwardly. As shown in FIG. 1, air admitted to air cylinder 74 in theassumed cycle of operation causes actuating rod 76 to move to the rightcarrying carriage 2 rightwardly. Carriage 2 in turn having tow cans 20and 22 clamped between beams 10, 12 .and 14 rolls the tow cansrightwardly thereby rolling tow can 22 off of the turntable 28 androlling tow can 20 onto turntable 28. When carriage 2 reaches itsrightward limit position it contacts a microswitch 80 sending a signalto the control system 64 which in turn controls valve 68 to deliver airto air cylinder 60 for moving actuating rod 58, shaft 46, and crossbar52 upwardly into camrning engagement with cam clutch member 26 on towcan 20. When shaft 46 reaches its upper limit position, a microswitch 82is contacted sending a signal to the control system indicating that can20 is clutched. Tow can 20 will then be clamped within the carriage andwill be rotating in a clockwise direction while tow can 22 will beresting in the space provided by station C. At this time, an operatorcuts the towline and guides the cut end so that it falls into tow can 20to begin the packaging operation of the can. The control system 64receiving the signal from microswitch 82, signals a solenoid valve 84 todeliver air to an air cylinder 86 which is connected to pivotal beam 14to cause the beam to pivot in a counterclockwise direction (FIG. 1) awayfrom tow can 22 thus releasing it from a clamped position. An operatorthen removes the packaged tow can 22 by manually rolling it away fromstation C and replaces it with an empty tow can. The control systemafter a pre-set delay, permitting the operator to replace the filledcan, signals solenoid valve 84 to deliver air to air cylinder 86 forpivoting beam 14 in a clockwise direction (FIG. 1) to clamp thereplacement tow can within the carriage 2.

After tow can 20 is packaged with tow, the control system 64 operates totraverse carriage 2 leftwardly and the sequence of operation is similarto that explained above. When the carriage 2 is shifted leftwardly, amicroswitch 88 at the left side of carriage 2 (FIG. 1) is used toindicate the leftward limit position of the carriage, and an aircylinder 90 and solenoid valve 92 function through the control system 64to operate beam 12 in the manner of beam 14 as explained above.

In FIG. 6 the source of air under pressure is illustrated by thereference numeral 94 and the electrical relay and timing circuit by thereference numeral 96.

The tow can apparatus is illustrated in the form of a two-canconstruction, however, the apparatus may be modified to operate withmore than two cans. For example, beam 4 of carriage 2 may have anotherset of beams 10, 12, and 14 and another turntable may be arrangedopposite the one shown to provide a four-can apparatus. Any phase of theautomatic control sequence may be modified to provide manual or separateoperation. It may be desirable, for example, to pivot beams 12 and 14 bya separate system wherein an operator may open and close the beams atwill. Safety switches may be provided to prevent the carriage 2 frombeing shifted before the T bar is removed from the clutch member 26 andindicators can be incorporated to show an operator that a tow can issufficiently supplied with tow.

It will be understood that modifications and variations of theillustrated embodiment are expected to be covered by the invention andthat the invention be limited only by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A tow can apparatus comprising in combination:

a plurality of tow cans each having a clutch member,

a driven rotary turntable,

means for driving said turntable,

a reciprocable carriage means including clamp means for clamping saidplurality of tow cans in journaled relation therein,

clutch means for engaging with and disengaging from said clutch memberon said tow cans,

control means for controlling said reciprocable carriage means, saidclamp means, and said clutch means to act responsively thereto torollingly clamp said plurality of tow cans normally positioned withinsaid reciprocable carriage means, to reciprocate said reciprocablecarriage means in one direction to position one of said tow cans on saidturntable while holding another tow can in a standby position adjacentsaid turntable, to actuate said clutch means to engage with said clutchmember on said tow can positioned on said turntable, to time the stayperiod of said tow can on said turntable, to disengage said clutch meansfrom said clutch member on said tow can, to reciprocate said carriagemeans in the opposite direction for removing said tow can from saidturntable and positioning said standby tow can thereon simultaneously,to unclamp said tow can removed from said turntable to permit removaltherefrom and replacement therein of an empty tow can, to clamp saidempty tow can within said carriage means, and to repeat said sequence ofoperation with said carriage means being traversed, alternately, inopposite directions continuously.

2. A tow can apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said tow cans, saidreciprocable carriage means and said turntable are supported on rollingmeans.

3. A tow can apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said means for drivingsaid turntable and said clutch means are of integral construction saidclutch means having common rotation with said driving means and beingreciprocable therein.

4. A tow can apparatus comprising in combination:

a driven turntable means,

a reciprocable carriage means for clamping a plurality of tow cans injournaled relation and for shifting packaged tow cans off of and emptytow cans onto said turntable means,

clutch means for clutching and unclutching said tow cans on saidturntable means,

control means for controlling said reciprocable carriage means to clampand unclamp said tow cans and to reciprocate the latter onto and OR ofsaid driven turntable means in predetermined timed relation, and

for controlling said clutch means to clutch and un- 10 clutch said towcans on said turntable means.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 333,396 8/1930 Great Britain. 1,325,2533/1963 France.

865,820 4/1961 Great Britain. 1,005,578 9/ 1965 Great Britain.

DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner.

